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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27395683">the end (is only the beginning)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/driveshaft/pseuds/driveshaft'>driveshaft</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Lost</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:26:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>335</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27395683</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/driveshaft/pseuds/driveshaft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>when it all comes down to it, richard wants to live.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Richard Alpert/Miles Straume</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the end (is only the beginning)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>a lil miles/richard bc??? why the hell not, yeehaw</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>Richard is sitting in an outrigger atop the blue waters of the ocean, and he is looking at Miles, at the gentle slope of his nose and the soft shadows cast by his eyelashes, when he realizes that he wants to<em> live.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>Finally,</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>he wants to live. </em>
</p>
<p><em>God</em>, does he want to live, and the thought feels foreign, entirely foreign, but he <em>grins</em> despite himself. Grins like he wasn’t just staring down the end of a dynamite stick and hoping against hope itself, against an already sealed fate, that it would somehow blow him to pieces; grins like he hadn’t spent the better part of his miserable life dreaming of <em>dying</em>. </p>
<p>(It’s funny, he thinks. Funny he’d realize this now when the world was about to end, but - then again, he hadn’t been sitting next to Miles, hadn’t gotten to drink in the slope of his nose, his eyelashes - which was a much better view than that stick of dynamite was - for the past…<em> how long has it been, now? Keeping track gets old after a while. </em></p>
<p>Maybe he would’ve realized it sooner if he had.)</p>
<p>“Hey, look at that! Welcome to the club,” Miles exclaims suddenly, glances at him with the biggest smile on his face; Richard only arches an eyebrow and waits for him to continue: “Do you mind?”</p>
<p><em>No</em>; he doesn't mind, would never mind. (Not when it comes to Miles.)  </p>
<p>Miles leans forward, plucks a strand of hair from Richard’s head and holds it out in his palm for him to see. It’s silver, Richard notices, and he almost doesn’t believe it at first but<em> it’s</em> <em>silver,</em> and he wants to live, <em>wants it so desperately</em> and when Miles side-eyes him and asks <em>what’re you smiling about,</em> he says so. </p>
<p>He wants to shout it until his throat’s gone raw, bloody. It’s nice.</p>
<p>It’s nice. </p>
<p>
  <em>It’s nice. </em>
</p>
<p>He wants to live, and now, <em>now</em> he will finally be able to.</p>
<p>“Well… Good,” Miles says; “Because I want you to live, too.” </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>cool. cool cool cool </p>
<p>thinking ab the ending and i'm sad!!!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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